Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of providing online information using image information, and more particularly, to a method of providing online information using image, which searches for information, such as advertisements associated with an image that exists online, using an image in which graphic information and text information are mixed, such as a photograph provided by a user terminal, and provides the retrieved information.
As information service in the Internet is activated and smart terminals, such as smart phones and tablet PCs, are spread, the smart terminals are providing a variety of advertisements and pieces of information. Pieces of information in a smart terminal, however, are provided through a direct input to a user terminal or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) input based on text. As a more advanced form that provides information, a search using an image or the providing of information using a Quick Response (QR) code is gradually being spread.
In the case of a QR code, however, information based on an image can be provided, but the information can be extracted from the QR code by recognizing the QR code only when the QR code is printed on a target medium or outputted. In the case of an image search, additional information, such as a QR code, does not need to be inserted into an image. The image search, which is optimized for an image, such as a photograph including a variety of objects, has very low accuracy in a printed advertisement, such as printed matter or an insertion, and includes lots of text as in a newspaper and a magazine.
Text that occupies most of an area is very similar in terms of an image in printed matter that is focused on text, such as a newspaper, and a printed advertisement, such as an insertion, commonly has a similar layout. If a common image search technique is applied to the printed advertisement without recognizing characters, it is very difficult to obtain meaningful features. Furthermore, character recognition is problematic in that handling for various languages is difficult, the accuracy of recognition is low, and processing costs are high.
As a background art related to the present invention, there is a Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2012-0001847 (Jan. 5, 2012), entitled ‘System and Method for Searching Imaged’.